The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) through its CEO Babatunde Irukera have recently disclosed that the commission is surprised to discover that Nigeria has over 200 loan apps existing in the country.
Mr. Irukera disclosed that the discovery was made during the registration process after the federal government proposed a mandatory registration after observing the proliferation and unethical practices of several loan apps in the country. He noted that the commission didn’t think that loan apps operating in the country were that many.
In his words,
“There are many people who didn’t meet the deadline as some registrations were still incomplete. The initial deadline was actually January 31, 2023. And we are surprised about the sheer number of digital lenders that existed, and ultimately, they are probably more than 200. We didn’t think they were that many. But what the framework has also done is that it has brought some honest people who want to get into the business but wanted a legitimate and transparent framework.”
He further noted that despite the numbers being quite many, it doesn’t mean that all of them are lending as many are also getting licenses to prepare for their business. The FCCPC boss disclosed that the registration does not mean that all the registered companies are lawful in their activities, however, the commission will actively play a role in significantly reducing how they violate the law.
Investors King understands that the federal government and tech giant Google has already implemented new restrictions on digital loan apps available on the Play Store platform, barring them from accessing users’ contacts or photos from May 31, 2023.
The policy is aimed at safeguarding users from predatory lending practices which the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) see as a welcome development effort that institutionalizes regulatory policies in the Nigerian digital lending industry.
